Body dissatisfaction is a phenomenon that may already occur in childhood and is linked to a variety of psychosocial risks. As the role of physical activity in the context of body dissatisfaction is still ambivalent, a cross-sectional study with 602 normal weight children (50.2% girls; M = 9.23 years; SD = 0.79) was conducted. The children filled in the MoMo-Questionnaire, including items about their physical activities and motives for being physically active, as well as Bender's Body Esteem and Muscularity Concern Scale with the three subscales "body satisfaction", "weight and shape concerns", and "muscularity concerns". Independent t-tests revealed that girls were less worried about muscularity than boys (M= 1.94, SD= 1.11 vs. M= 3.12, SD= 1.43; t(560) = 11.33, p < .001, Cohen's d = 0.92), whereas girls showed greater weight and shape concerns than boys (M= 2.24, SD= 0.97 vs. M= 2.05, SD= 0.92; t(549) = 2.32, p = .02, d = 0.20). In boys, physical activity is associated with less muscularity, weight, and shape concerns. Body satisfaction increases with health and fitness motives. In girls, the role of physical activity is ambivalent: girls who engage in sports do not differ in body dissatisfaction from non-active girls. In sportive girls, weight and shape concerns increased with more health and fitness motives. Finally, the study provides first insights into body dissatisfaction and the different role of physical activity in boys and girls in childhood.
Research has indicated the importance of preservice teacher education programs that focus on fostering positive psychological aspects relevant to teaching in inclusive settings, such as attitudes or self-efficacy. Previous research lacks theoretical underpinning and is limited because of methodological characteristics of the studies (e.g., no control group). Thus, in a quasi-experimental design the current study aimed to investigate the effects of theoretically derived interventions (IG1: information-based cognitive intervention group; IG2: information-based and practical field experience intervention group) in comparison to a control group (CG) on changes in preservice teachers' perspective on teaching inclusively, i.e. explicit and implicit attitudes, selfefficacy, and stress perception, all relevant to teach in inclusive settings. Results of four separated repeated-measure analysis of variances, with time of assessment (before vs. after) as a within-subject factor and group (CG, IG1, and IG2) as a between-subject factor, showed no differences in the development (pre-to post-intervention) between CG and IG1 as well as CG and IG2 in any of the dependent variables. However, significant differences in changes in explicit attitudes and stress perception were found between IG1 and IG2 in favor of IG2. Results will be discussed considering confounding variables that future research should further investigate.
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